KATU NEWS Channel 2 out of Portland, Oregon has come up with a penetrating report on a source confirming that Mr. Breedlove, now 21, was having a sexual relationship with democrat Portland Mayor Sam Adams, now Ancient... and that the relationship in question started when Breedlove was 17.

There's much more than a foamy head going on here. Every day, more facts bubble up to the top of the scandal glass, and this one is now pouring over.

Adams, who repeatedly has stated that he no longer wants to look rearwards, only straight ahead, seems to be in a condom... I mean, a conundrum.

PORTLAND, Ore. - New details are emerging every day as the pieces of the scandal surrounding Portland's embattled mayor continue to unfold and people come forward.

A longtime friend of Beau Breedlove, who spoke with KATU News on condition of anonymity, has new light to shed on the scandal that has divided the city into two sides - those for and against Mayor Sam Adams.

In this latest development, Breedlove's friend told KATU News that he heard from him almost four years ago that he was having sex with a Portland politician - at a time when Breedlove was 17 years old.

"He didn't say who, or his name, but said he was having sexual encounters with this person," he said.

The friend met Breedlove at South Salem's Sprague High School and said in the spring of 2005, Breedlove told him about the relationship.

"I just didn't think too much of it at the time," he said. "It's not the first guy who he had sex with that was older than 18. He liked it, obviously. Maybe he just didn't know that this guy was going to become the mayor of Portland."

The White House said Saturday that Obama remains committed to Daschle’s nomination. A West Wing official twice stressed that Obama is dedicated to enduring the fallout—now the second politically embarrassing case of a high-level appointee failing to pay taxes.

“Every nomination has bumps along the road but they handle it,” said this official.

Sources close to Daschle said they’ve gotten reassurances from the White House that Obama was not wavering.

You know, I've got to ask:

Exactly what the hell would it take for these people to kick someone? What, for example, did Gov. Bill Richardson do.... molest a child? Kill a prostitute? Run over a Nun?

Good God... how serious does the crime against the people of this country and against our government have to be before you're disqualified from benefiting from our tax dollars?

Can our government not see... can our new President not see the damage these nominations do to the confidence level we're supposed to have in our government to get us out of this and to protect us?

The fact of the matter is this:

To me, if Geithner had a magic wand and got us out of this economic malaise BY HIMSELF TOMORROW, his violations of integrity and criminal activity would STILL disqualify him from getting confirmed.

If Daschle could cure cancer by himself, tomorrow, HIS criminal activity in failing to pay tens of thousands of dollars in taxes, a failure that might see you or I locked up in prison, disqualifies HIM from getting confirmed.

Contrary to what local leftist and failed state senate candidate David Carrier sniveled here, Mr. Obama is putting together the cabinet version of the Portland Trailblazers of old, where one of the assistant coaches SHOULD have been a probation officer.

"Don't blame me, I voted for McCain" could soon become the biggest selling bumper sticker in history.

Daschle brings NOTHING to the table that makes his egregious criminal violation suddenly disappear in the face of his ability to fill this position. There are, in fact, many people of merit with spotless records who struggled like the rest of us to find a way to meet our responsibilities, as increasingly complicated and complex as they are.

But Daschle, a democrat former United States Senator Majority Leader didn't. And Geithner, a former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York didn't.

The White House said Saturday that Obama remains committed to Daschle’s nomination. A West Wing official reiterating twice that Obama is dedicated to enduring the fallout – now the second politically embarrassing case of a high-level appointee failing to pay taxes.Photo: AP

With President Barack Obama’s talking like the new sheriff of Wall Street this week, it seems like just the kind of thing he’d rail against – a rich political insider who doesn’t pay taxes on his limousine.

Except that in this case, it’s Obama’s nominee for health and human services secretary, Tom Daschle.

The White House said Saturday that Obama remains committed to Daschle’s nomination. A West Wing official twice stressed that Obama is dedicated to enduring the fallout—now the second politically embarrassing case of a high-level appointee failing to pay taxes.

“Every nomination has bumps along the road but they handle it,” said this official.

Sources close to Daschle said they’ve gotten reassurances from the White House that Obama was not wavering.

“They knew it was coming and they’d have to take a hit”—and in this case, “a bad first-day hit”—said a person familiar with Daschle’s thinking.

For now anyway, there is little evidence that Daschle’s tax delinquency is fatal to his nomination. Democrats have called a Senate Finance Committee meeting for Monday to discuss the impact on his prospects. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) endorsed him yesterday, saying, "I believe Tom's reputation for integrity will assure that he will be confirmed by the Senate Finance Committee and the full Senate."

While Republican response has been muted, party members are signaling that the case of not one but two tax scofflaws on Obama’s staff is just too good to pass up — a chance to puncture Obama’s squeaky-clean image, particularly at a time when he is scolding Wall Street for about the need for greater personal responsibility.

In his radio address on Saturday, Obama railed against “arrogance and greed” in the markets, and he’s attacked “shameful” bonuses as evidence that financial titans are out of touch with how regular people live.

Daschle’s back-tax problem, though, centered on more than $255,000 worth of free limo rides around Washington, not exactly the working-class blues.

The car and driver were given to Daschle by a friend and Democratic mega-donor whose company also employed the ex-Senate Democratic leader at the rate of $1 million a year. Daschle supplemented his income with $200,000 in speeches to the same health groups he’d regulate as HHS secretary

Mr. Obama obviously has a lot in common with enviro-hypocrite democrat Al Gore. Mr. Gore is famous for his global warming fantasies, making tens of millions of dollars off said fantasies, and demanding that WE live like it's the Middle Ages while HIS house wastes as much as 20 times the amount of power that most families use.

Leftists are drawn to that kind of hypocrisy. They simply do not get what tools they are for the despicable leaders of their movement, so they just go along like the sheep they are. One need go no farther than the left's efforts at turning this into a socialist country by supporting Mr. Obama's efforts to bury us in his Generational Indebtedness program.

But this hypocrisy is one of the more reeking, stinking piles of the brand to date.

.Springsteen is a fairly good musician. He's made a butt load of money at it... and like many uber leftists in the entertainment field, has somehow equated his or her ability to put people into seats or to sell their outrageously priced CDs/videos into some form of expertise in politics and/or foreign policy.

There are many others, of course. Hollywood is a hotbed of leftist politics. But these immediately come to mind as par for that particular course.

Now, I would never restrict these individual's right to express their ignorance and stupidity; a habit they've fallen into with startling regularity. The views of these people, typically uninformed, uneducated and inexperienced, are driven by leftist agendas and Hollywood expectations, where speaking out against the anti-American left can be career damaging, if not career killing.

These people are marketed. What they do on the screen, or on a CD, has value to some. But their performance value doesn't translate into either political value or integral value as to what they say when they're shooting off their collective mouth on subjects they know little to nothing about.

Nevertheless, some of us are unable to blur the distinction between the fantasy world presented to us from the entertainer, and the fantasy world of politics and policy the entertainer lives in. As a result, we ascribe value to the observations of entertainers that actually does not exist.

Springsteen is no exception, and his rank hypocrisy of today's announcement that his agreement with WalMart was a "mistake" is a lie so typical of the left that it made my dog barf.

The Bruce Excuse?

Some fans were critical because Springsteen has been a longtime supporter of worker's rights, and Wal-Mart has faced criticism for its labor practices. Springsteen's team didn't vet the issue as closely as it should have, and that he dropped the ball on it," he told the Times for a story to be published in Sunday editions and previewed on its Web site.

Bull.

Reminiscent of the "I take full responsibility, but I'm not going to do anything about it" approach of Bill Clinton, Springsteen's cowardly effort to deflect responsibility to his "team" is all too typical of the left's genetic inability to assume responsibility for their actions. Springsteen has followed that to a "t."

One could infer that Springsteen had a gun to his head when HE signed the WalMart contract. One could infer that he's a functional illiterate, and when he saw the word "WalMart" on this contract, he really didn't understand what the word meant.

One could conclude that Springsteen is a rank hypocrite because his leftist mea-culpa really is meaningless. It changes nothing, it doesn't stop the sale, it doesn't re-route the money, it doesn't give it to charity; it doesn't do a thing, except to polish his leftist street cred.

You so concerned about the workers, Mr. Springsteen? Then what say you climb down off your cross and give all the proceeds of your multi-million dollar "mistake" to, say, food banks, homeless shelters, or job training programs, eh?

It's easy to be "a longtime supporter of worker's rights" when it costs you nothing.

And the sad thing here is that the leftists pulling your political strings will probably be satisfied with your despicable "apology." They're typically too ignorant to know otherwise.

In an interview with The New York Times, Bruce Springsteen says he shouldn't have made a deal with Wal-Mart. This month, the store started exclusively selling a Springsteen greatest-hits CD.

Some fans were critical because Springsteen has been a longtime supporter of worker's rights, and Wal-Mart has faced criticism for its labor practices. Springsteen's team didn't vet the issue as closely as it should have, and that he "dropped the ball on it," he told the Times for a story to be published in Sunday editions and previewed on its Web site.

Springsteen went on to say: "It was a mistake. Our batting average is usually very good, but we missed that one. Fans will call you on that stuff, as it should be."

"Millions of Springsteen fans have counted on Wal-Mart over the years to deliver his music into their lives, and we will continue to offer those fans this 'Greatest Hits' exclusive and his other popular albums at unbeatable prices," Wal-Mart said in a statement, adding: "We are proud of the good jobs, benefits and career opportunities we provide to more than 1.4 million U.S. associates who choose to work at Wal-Mart and serve our customers every day."

Friday, January 30, 2009

The Cliff Notes version is this: Our newly confirmed Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, violated a half dozen laws concerning income tax, fraud, and hiring an illegal alien. His subsequent confirmation as the boss of the agency who's laws he violated, combined with the complete pass he received (all in the guise of the "honest mistake" defense) for violations of law that would cost most people their jobs and result in probable prison time has resulted in the Geithner Paradigm, a new set of rules that has dramatically lowered the bar in matters of criminality among our elected and appointed officials and will continue to do so in the future.

I posited that this violation of the public trust will be used like all successful violations of integrity in the future by all politicians... and, eventually, it will leak down to every level.

Our first opportunity to observe the Geithner Paradigm in action will be the case of former Sen. Tom Dashcle, former Senate Majority Leader and democrat... and nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services.

I expect that as soon as tomorrow, we will again see the shillers for the Obama Administration, including some of the more misguided Republican colleagues of Sen. Daschle, begin to come out and rise to Daschle's defense.

We've already seen the White House start the process, with the release of this information.

The White House acknowledged Friday that "some tax issues" had emerged in connection with the nomination, but a spokesman said the president is confident the Former Senate Democratic leader will be confirmed as the new health secretary.

We can all expect the "innocent mistake" defense to be trotted out directly. The end result?

Most likely, Sen. Daschle will also become the new Secretary of Health and Human Services.

The Geithner Paradigm in action, as once again, a government politician/appointee is given special privileges and his integrity violations go unpunished... for crimes that would see any of us locked up.

Former Sen. Tom Daschle, picked by President Barack Obama to lead his health reform efforts, recently filed amended tax returns to report $128,203 in back taxes and $11,964 in interest, according to a Senate document obtained by The Associated Press.

Former Sen. Tom Daschle, picked by President Barack Obama to lead his health reform efforts, recently filed amended tax returns to report $128,203 in back taxes and $11,964 in interest, according to a Senate document obtained by The Associated Press.

The White House acknowledged Friday that "some tax issues" had emerged in connection with the nomination, but a spokesman said the president is confident the former Senate Democratic leader will be confirmed as the new health secretary.

Daschle filed amended tax returns for 2005, 2006 and 2007 to reflect additional income for consulting work, the use of a car service and reduced deductions for charitable contributions. He filed the returns after Obama announced he intended to nominate Daschle to head the Health and Human Services Department.

Most of the additional taxes resulted from unreported income from the use of a car service provided him by a close friend and business associate, Leo Hindery Jr. The unreported income for that service totaled more than $250,000 over three years.

Daschle also had unreported consulting income of $88,333, in 2007. He also had reductions to charitable contributions totaling about $15,000 over the three years covered, according to the Senate Finance Committee document. The document, marked "Confidential Draft," is a committee statement concerning Daschle's nomination.

The car service and the consulting income were received in connection with Daschle's business relationship with InterMedia Partners of Englewood, Colo. Daschle is a limited partner and chairman of its executive advisory board. Daschle is also an independent consultant to InterMedia Advisors LLP of New York City.

Hindery founded InterMedia Partners, a private equity firm, in 1988. Daschle was paid $1 million annually for his services, the committee said. Daschle's 2007 tax return did not include one of his monthly payments of $88,333.

.Former Maryland Lt. Governor Micheal Steele has been elected Chair of The Republican Party.

Good. I have only one charge for you, Mr. Steele: Make me believe.

I'm hopeful that electing Mr. Steele is not the elective version of changing captains on the Titanic.

AP – Former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele holds a gavel after he was elected the first black Republican Chairman.

The last Presidential campaign was a throwback to the abortive effort by Sen. Bob Dole... and that's not the kind of "change" I can believe in.

So far, the wimpy efforts of the GOP in the Senate in caving and allowing, for example, the confirmation of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, does nothing to strengthen my resolve, although I will admit that the late opposition to Mr. Obama's Generational Indebtedness program is a hopeful sign.

I repeat, Mr. Steele: make me believe. I was one of the most hard core Republicans alive, working my butt off to get Republicans elected... Republicans that then betrayed us and engaged in either corrupt or expedient politics that has sold us out.

Just like their leftist counterparts.

Do what has to be done. Require every state party to immediately design, staff and implement a full time, year-around, Minority Outreach Program. Require every state party to design and implement an early candidate identification, vetting, training and funding program for state-level candidates.

Make each state party relevant again. And you might want to start with the West Coast.

WASHINGTON – The Republican Party chose the first black national chairman in its history Friday, just shy of three months after the nation elected a Democrat as the first African-American president. The choice marked no less than "the dawn of a new party," declared the new GOP chairman, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele. Republicans chose Steele over four other candidates, including former President George W. Bush's hand-picked GOP chief, who bowed out declaring, "Obviously the winds of change are blowing."

Steele takes the helm of a beleaguered Republican Party that is trying to recover after crushing defeats in November's national elections that gave Democrats control of Congress put Barack Obama in the White House.

GOP delegates erupted in cheers and applause when his victory was announced, but it took six ballots to get there. He'll serve a two-year term.

Steele, an attorney, is a conservative, but he was considered the most moderate of the five candidates running.

He was also considered an outsider because he's not a member of the Republican National Committee. But the 168-member RNC clearly signaled it wanted a change after eight years of Bush largely dictating its every move as the party's standard-bearer.

Steele became the first black candidate elected to statewide office in Maryland in 2002, and he made an unsuccessful Senate run in 2006. The former chairman of the Maryland Republican Party currently serves as chairman of GOPAC, an organization that recruits and trains Republican political candidates, and in that role he has been a frequent presence on the talk show circuit.

He vowed to expand the reach of the party by competing for every group, everywhere.

"We're going to say to friend and foe alike: 'We want you to be a part of us, we want you to with be with us.' And for those who wish to obstruct, get ready to get knocked over," Steele said.

"There is not one inch of ground that we're going to cede to anybody," he added.

.Any reader of this blog has seen the unbelievable arrogance of government we're subjected to every day. Of particular note is the well documented effort to ram an unneeded and unwanted multi-billion dollar waste of money down our throats so they can get their precious loot rail here into Clark County.

Not to be out done, King County's own Sound Transit, best known for lying to the voters to get them to agree to pay for an equally colossal but far more experience waste of money known as loot rail.

Now, we have yet another example of Sound Transit ripping off the taxpayers. And no, this kind of monumental arrogance does not surprise me... nor does the fact that no one will be held accountable for this theft (misappropriation is a little too kind, given the State Auditor's prior warnings) from The People.

And we're already seeing that kind of disdain for the people right here in our own Clark County.

Sound Transit illegally paid for event sponsorships that didn't benefit the agency or promote its transit services, a state audit has concluded.

Moreover, the agency was warned that the practice was wrong but continued doing it anyway, the state said.

The audit, issued this week and circulated Thursday by the Washington Policy Center, said that since April 2006 the agency has paid $8,050 in sponsorship money to three nonprofit groups: the Transportation Choices Coalition, Futurewise and the Cascade Land Conservancy.

It said it was legal for the agency to separately pay $156,000 in membership dues to the coalition.

But the sponsorships "are not within (the agency's) authority because sponsorships do not provide information to the public about the transit authority's services," the Jan. 26 audit said.

The audit report said the state Auditor's Office notified Sound Transit in June of 2007 that "purchasing sponsorships are not within its authority. ... The Transit Authority, however, continued this type of expenditure as $3,200 of the $8,050 was contributed after June 2007."

.How can you tell the morons running the editorial page of the Pravda Columbian are lying about the I-5 Bridge replacement and loot rail?

They print something.

Every article is a lie. Every editorial, foaming at the mouth in support of this criminal waste of money. Every mention. Every quote in support. All of them.

No, the actual words are not lies, usually. The words are uttered, dutifully; recorded, dutifully; and printed, dutifully.

So where's the lie?

The lie is in the fact that each article, meeting, and comment is presented as if there is not massive opposition to this colossal blunder on the largest magnitude of the history of the Northwestern United States. They rarely, if ever, even mention the remote possibility that this project is not wanted or needed. They have even gone so far as to print about lying polls in an effort to sway the uninformed.

The lie is in the fact that this despicable rag will do all it can to silence the people on this matter, much like they have done all they can to belittle and ignore the seething and silenced opposition to this garbage.

In this instance, the biggest lie is a sub part of their headline, where they don't even MENTION loot rail:

Let’s remember the Great Original Purpose: Reduce congestion, increase safety

"Planners and elected officials who back the project are aware of the shortcomings, but say it's better than doing nothing."

Now, THERE'S a reason for acting and hosing us with a $4 BILLION waste.

Secondly, what they again lack the guts and integrity to tell us is that THE great original purpose is TO BRING IN LIGHT RAIL.

In short, "The Best Bridge" IS THE ONE WE ALREADY HAVE.

Further, this rag's nonsensical whining about people across the river who don't share their vision is just that, whining. As I've already pointed out, the ONLY motivation for this nonsensical crap is loot rail. If the other side of the river were to demand that this 6 lane bridge be reduced to ONE lane, the morons and idiots running this show would be OK with that, as long as it included loot rail.

But the bridge we already have cannot be reconfigured for loot rail... so it must go. And to attempt to con the people, they will make up lie after lie about the bridge we have in an effort to continue to scam us into believing that we need THIS bridge replaced... when their ONLY incentive is to find a way to get loot rail into Vancouver... no matter how much it costs... and no matter how many people are hurt in the process.

The governments supporting this debacle... the governments too cowardly to demand that we be allowed to vote on this unconscionable waste of time, money and effort... the governments so arrogant that they believe themselves somehow beyond asking us if we want this multi-billion dollar waste of money... as well as the Nazi-propaganda-like newspaper supporting this effort would be considered "despicable," except despicable doesn't even begin to cover it.

This unspeakable abuse of the people of Clark County must end. Hopefully, it will end with their overwhelming defeat of these clowns at the polls BEFORE they damage us any further than the $90 million plus they've already wasted on this nonsense.

Hopefully, it will end with the destruction and bankruptcy of the Columbian, a newspaper that has long since lost it's way and violated it's sacred trust.

What goes around, comes around. And for too long, this paper has served as the soap box for those who would rape this community in the name of their superior vision. For that, this paper should suffer the ultimate penalty of going out of business.

Based on the comments of a few public officials across the river, it almost seems as if they’re afraid a new Interstate 5 Bridge might be too successful.

Their warped logic goes something like this: If a new bridge is too successful and doesn’t have a certain amount of aggravating congestion and traffic dangers, then vehicles will move too rapidly. And if motorists become too content, then the local quality of life will rise, and that will encourage growth and worsen the current sprawl problems, particularly in north Clark County.

What an absurd outlook. But that’s the only way to interpret comments made by some members of the Portland City Council and Metro Council, most recently at a Monday meeting among bridge-design officials, planners, politicians and bureaucrats.

These few hand-wringing Oregonians should remember what we’ll call the Great Original Purpose of this whole, long-overdue bridge replacement project: reduce congestion and increase safety at the I-5 choke point on the Columbia River. If the tourniquet-tighteners are afraid a new bridge might be too accommodating, then they should have the courage to embrace and promote the “no build” option. Indeed, doing nothing would be a great way to keep bridge traffic from moving too swiftly and put a clamp on the motoring public’s wanderlust.

There is a major irony here, of course; during the campaign, Power sniveled:

Power told the Scotsman newspaper that Clinton would stop at nothing to defeat Obama. "She is a monster, too," Power said in the interview. "She is stooping to anything." Power added that "the amount of deceit she has put forward is really unattractive."

"Power told the Scotsman newspaper that Clinton would stop at nothing to defeat Obama."

That you or I would be in serious trouble if we did any one of those things; that you or I would most likely have been “Borked” had we done any of those things, or that Geithner would have been scalped had he been possessed of an “R” after his name are facts that amount to a given.

We know all of this already.And that, believe it or not, isn’t the reason for this post.

The question that forms the basis for this post is this:

Now that Timothy Giethner has gotten away with ripping off the agency he runs by only paying 2 of the 4 years worth of taxes, penalties and fees that you or I would be on the hook for (jail time, a high cost extra) how will the impact of his deliberate violation of the law effect the rest of us generally, and other government officials violating the law specifically?

How far should the “honest mistake” defense take us?Looks like it’s good for hiring illegal aliens and stiffing your employer by pocketing the cash given to you for that specific purpose.

The idea that we simply couldn’t do without Geithner is a rank joke, of course.Geithner was asleep at the switch while he ran the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and was a major player in the essentially criminal rescue of Bear Sterns ,as well as AIG and the tens of billions of OUR dollars to keep those corrupt operations afloat.

The last person we need as Treasurer of the United States is someone that will facilitate the continuing Obama idiocy known as bailouts.But even moronic Republicans like Orin Hatch seem to think that we HAVE to have this guy… when clearly, we don’t.

Again, this background begs the question:Can you commit a felony against the IRS and get a job as a result?Can you defraud an employer and not have that count against you, just the tiniest bit, when you are up for one of the most important positions in government today?

.Look... I'm no Blago fan. I've busted a cap in his butt here and here, among other places.

But I'm very big on process... and the process here sucks.

No one has yet explained to me why this guy was not allowed to face his accusers. No one has explained to me why he was not allowed to call witnesses. No one has explained to me why he wasn't allowed to mount a Constitutional defense.

Hang this guy? You bet your ass. BUT NOT UNTIL HE IS ALLOWED TO DEFEND HIMSELF FIRST.

Even Judge Roy Been allowed the accused to bring witnesses in before he convicted and hung the accused.

Where's the justice in any of this?

Folks, this was not a good day for America. They should have allowed him the right to present a defense. That they didn't smacks of something unpatriotic... and UnAmerican..

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

.Clearly, the Pravda Columbian still has not received the message that they're circling the bottom of the toilet.

Today, we are treated to a bogus headline with a nonsensical story that once again ignored the widespread opposition to this massive waste of money that we DO NOT WANT.

The federal agency that oversees the nation’s freeways and has ultimate authority over the Columbia River Crossing project says a new Interstate 5 bridge should be built with 12 lanes.

This is lie number one.

The "Feds" didn't "back" a damned thing. A couple of cronies of Don Wagner, transportation chief for Cesar Pollard and the Downtown Mafia, signed a letter that said, in part:

“We believe the 12-lane bridge best meets the safety, operations, connectivity, reliability, freight mobility and commerce needs for this interstate corridor,” the letter concludes. “We do, however, acknowledge the practical constraints for a project of this magnitude and in this setting. We understand the sensitive nature of these discussions and appreciate the opportunity to provide a federal perspective.”

The "agency" didn't write that: a DIVISION in Washington wrote that; a DIVISION in Oregon wrote that.

These people have no authority to approve this project. That the Pravda Columbian would infer that they did is yet another lie.

The Federal Highway Administration’s Jan. 23 letter supports a bridge with six lanes in each direction as the best option for improving safety, easing congestion and moving freight on the West Coast’s primary freeway.

This is lie number two.

Again, this waste of paper is NOT from the Federal Highway Administration approval authority.

This is from a couple of local offices, where a couple of Don Wagner's buds stepped up and signed off on a letter that Wagner, most likely, provided for them to sign on their DIVISION office letterhead.

The letter is signed by Daniel Mathis, the agency’s division administrator in Washington, and Phillip Ditzler, its division administrator in Oregon.

It stops far short of insisting any new bridge must have 12 lanes and recognizes the number of lanes is politically touchy.

Paraphrased, this means that both the letter and the article are a waste of time, energy and paper; and it only serves the purpose of yet another Nazi-style propaganda piece by the scuzball newspaper that doesn't give a DAMN about what the people PAYING for this abortion might want.

The money quote:

Don Wagner, Southwest Washington regional administrator for the Washington State Department of Transportation, said he talked to Mathis before the letter was sent.

“The words are crafted very carefully in that letter,” he said.“It does say that they support 12 lanes. That’s different from saying, ‘We demand, we require,’ or anything else."

Clearly, this entire trash heap was designed, implemented and organized by... Don Wagner. That his cronies signed this toilet paper is meaningless. That the Pravda Columbian tells us, or infers to us, something different is yet another symptom of that disease that keeps on coming back.

The federal agency that oversees the nation’s freeways and has ultimate authority over the Columbia River Crossing project says a new Interstate 5 bridge should be built with 12 lanes.

The "Tower" design is one of the options for an Interstate 5 replacement bridge. (Rendering courtesy of Touchstone Architects and Co)

The letter is signed by Daniel Mathis, the agency’s division administrator in Washington, and Phillip Ditzler, its division administrator in Oregon.

It stops far short of insisting any new bridge must have 12 lanes and recognizes the number of lanes is politically touchy.

“We believe the 12-lane bridge best meets the safety, operations, connectivity, reliability, freight mobility and commerce needs for this interstate corridor,” the letter concludes. “We do, however, acknowledge the practical constraints for a project of this magnitude and in this setting. We understand the sensitive nature of these discussions and appreciate the opportunity to provide a federal perspective.”

Don Wagner, Southwest Washington regional administrator for the Washington State Department of Transportation, said he talked to Mathis before the letter was sent.

“The words are crafted very carefully in that letter,” he said. “It does say that they support 12 lanes. That’s different from saying, ‘We demand, we require,’ or anything else.”

.For those not paying attention, there was a leftist Republican who ran, rather badly I might add, for Clark County Commissioner during the last cycle.

His name is Craig Williams, whose positions on transportation seemed to closely mirror that of both the Downtown Mafia and vanquished democrat Pam Brokaw.

Craig supports the unneeded, unwanted massive waste of money known as the I-5 Bridge replacement/loot rail. Like Tim Leavitt, this short-sighted social engineering arrogance disqualifies Williams from any serious run at elective office.

"Arrogance" is not a character trait that tends to get people elected as much as it tends to cement you in the minds of the people as a twit who shouldn't be allowed to run an elevator. Williams is a case in point.

Really folks, you must all think that the bridge planners/engineers are still drawing pictures in pencil on the back of napkins! Do your homework and get informed before you spout and whine. Go to the Columbia River Crossing site and read. A good link for seeing how all the lanes fit into a 10-lane or 12-lane project is below:

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

.Erstwhile Pollard clone Tim Leavitt, who wants to be the Soviet Socialist Republic of Vancouver's next Commissar (Mayor), again blew the call by failing to demand that the people of Clark County get a vote on the entirety of this unwanted, unneeded and MASSIVE waste of money known as the I-5 Bridge Replacement/Loot Rail Scam.

As I pointed out before, here and here, there is no reason to elect this guy mayor, since if Royce Pollard suddenly stopped, Leavitt's entire head would disappear from view.

Both of these clowns support a bridge replacement that will accomplish precisely and absolutely zip in the critical areas of congestion and freight mobility. Clearly, in their stilted view, no amount of Other People's Money wasted is too much to pay for loot rail.

Leavitt has never publicly opposed Pollard on any waste of our money, and votes with him on essentially 100% of the economy-slamming scams run by Vancouver; everything from subsidizing a hotel that the city sued the voters to keep from having a voice on, to charging an idiotic, business-killing head tax... Leavitt has been there, carrying Caesar Pollard's water.

So far, Leavitt, who is a follower of this blog, has yet to take me up on the offer I extended to him to explain where I've misread or misreported this situation. To that end, I extend the following offer to Mr. Leavitt: Feel free to provide your excuse for failing to demand that the entire county should determine if we want a new bridge or not; feel free to provide an explanation as to why you believe that harming the 60,000 commuters with an additional $1300 projected fee to go to work every day is a "good idea," and feel free to explain why the hell anyone should vote to elect you mayor when the only difference between you and the one we already have is about 30 years in age.

I will provide the entirety, unedited, of your response; if any. But like last time, I doubt that I'll be hearing from you. Like allowing the people to vote on this massive waste of our money, responding would require a level of courage you don't possess.

PORTLAND — A high-level meeting of elected officials did little Monday to reach consensus on how many lanes should be built on a new replacement Interstate 5 bridge.

The Portland City Council and the Metro Council, in a rare joint work session, spent close to two hours in a wide-ranging discussion of the lane issue, bridge tolls and projected effects on greenhouse gas emissions and urban development.

The meeting, however, only underscored the division between Washington and Oregon on a bridge-freeway-transit project that could cost $3.5 billion or more.

There was plenty to fuel suspicions that some Oregon officials want to nail Clark County commuters by jacking up bridge tolls and slashing bridge lanes.

Bridge tolls are projected to cost $2.56 each way during rush hour, which would cost a commuter to a weekday job in Portland more than $1,000 annually.

Nevertheless, Metro Councilor Carl Hosticka questioned if such a toll would be too low.

That's right, they gerrymandered the borders of the taxing district, in some areas ONLY ONE STREET WIDE, so they could exclude 10's of thousands of us from voting on this tax increase, but not from PAYING the tax increase.

Pridemore, best known for screwing the people of the State of Washington by voting "yes" on a budget that even HE acknowledged, in HIS own floor speech, "was balanced on the backs of the poor and the powerless;" wants this bill so he and his fellow extortionists can, once again, draw the boundaries around each and every retail outlet of any size while working hard to exclude the tens of thousands of us opposed to the Downtown Mafia's extortion.

There is no excuse for this kind of criminal enterprise. If Pridemore or any of the scum supporting this effort had any guts, they'd be dropping a bill requiring a county-wide vote on this massive waste of billions of dollars. But that requires courage that Pridemore will never know.

Pridemore has been a gutless waste of skin since he was first elected. This despicable act on his part will forever be tied to the infamy where he and he alone will be responsible for screwing hundreds of thousands of people in Clark County.

.So, the President nominated and the Senate consented to the appointment of Tim "Tax Dodge" Geithner.

THIS is "change?" Appointing a tax cheat to run the Treasury of the United States is "change?" Appointing someone who took money to pay his taxes only to keep that money is "change?" Appointing someone who hired an illegal alien is "change?"

Guess what, everyone! You, too, can blow off the IRS and then tell them, "Gee, it was an honest mistake."

Man, if only Willie Nelson or Wesley Snipes had taken THAT route, well, why, they wouldn't have had a LICK of trouble!

Kudos to democrat senators Harkin and Byrd, as well as Bernie Sanders, Independent from Vermont.

This man is despicable. So is the guy that appointed him. And so are the senators that voted for him. And I am ashamed of them all..

.So, once more with the idiotic and massive waste of huge amounts of OUR money.

There's an excellent chance there would be no CITIgroup if the idiots on both sides of the aisle hadn't ratcheted up steam-shovels full of cash with few, if any strings attached.

Interfering with economic law when it gets a little uncomfortable has led us to this. With the spigot turned on and billions already wasted, the recipients of government largess already know that there's nothing at this point that government can do to reign these people in.

We are being abused. And so far, there is no particular reason for that abuse to stop.

The ball is in the democrats court generally, and Mr. Obama's court specifically.

But I doubt they'll do what has to be done, which is to stop this printing-press madness.

By JENNIFER GOULD KEIL and CHUCK BENNETT

Beleaguered Citigroup is upgrading its mile-high club with a brand-new $50 million corporate jet - only this time, it's the taxpayers who are getting screwed.

Even though the bank's stock is as cheap as a gallon of gas and it's burning through a $45 billion taxpayer-funded rescue, the airhead execs pushed through the purchase of a new Dassault Falcon 7X, according to a source familiar with the deal.

The French-made luxury jet seats up to 12 in a plush interior with leather seats, sofas and a customizable entertainment center, according to Dassault's sales literature. It can cruise 5,950 miles before refueling and has a top speed of 559 mph.

There are just nine of these top-of-the-line models in the United States, with Dassault's European factory churning out three to four 7Xs a month.

Citigroup decided to get its new wings two years ago, when the financial-services giant was flush with cash, but it still intends to take possession of the jet this year despite its current woes, the source said.

"Why should I help you when what you write will be used to the detriment of our company?" replied Bill McNamee, head of CitiFlight Inc., the subsidiary that manages Citigroup's corporate fleet, when asked to comment about the new 7X.

As you have probably seen in the media, I have been the target of a nasty smear by a would-be political opponent. I will not dignify the substance of this smear by repeating it - if you read the accounts you will see there is no foundation to it. The reason is simple: it is untrue.

The fact is that Adams now acknowledges that the allegations were dead on target. And beyond matters of sexuality, his scummy lies, complete lack of integrity and personal cowardice disqualify this man to hold any elected job.

This kind of ugly politicking may be commonplace in other cities and at the national level, but Portland and Oregon largely has been blessedly free of it. It saddens me that it has been introduced here, and I have faith that Portlanders' rejection of it will mean that this incident is an anomaly.

Which kind of "ugly politicking" is that? The kind where you're held accountable for your actions? Or the kind where you become a lying scumbag when you deny the truth?

About this attempted smear, here is what I want to say.

Here is what you SHOULD have said, you gutless coward:

"It's all true. I apologize. It won't happen again. Now, vote for me, because if you're gonna elect an admitted drug user for president, you shouldn't have any difficulty voting for someone tip-toeing up to the line of engaging in rape of a child, and then lying his ass off to cover it up."

That's what you SHOULD have said.

I have in the past, and I will in the future, respond to people who reach out to me for help and advice. This is especially true when it comes to young people.

This, apparently, represents code speak for "I'm going to get all the teenage strange I can, whenever I can and however I can... and then I'm going to lie my ass off about it, hoping in the basic stupidity of my supporters to forgive my complete lack of integrity or guts.

Local groups depending on city business are, of course, driven by their need for cash far more than their need to require honesty from elected officials.

Steve Holwerda, chairman of the Portland Business Alliance, said in a statement released Saturday that the alliance board had differing views on whether Adams should resign but they agreed it was a critical time for the city and some of its major development projects.

"Whether or not he stays in office should be based on whether he can lead our city effectively and with the integrity that all our citizens deserve," Holwerda said.

Fascinating.

This lying dirtbag has already both proven, and acknowledged, that he is no more possessed of the "integrity that all our citizens deserve" then he is the ability to levitate.

When you're terrified, one has to wonder: what else would this moron have to do to get you to grow a pair and walk the walk?

Obviously, Adams has made the strategic decision that if he hangs in for 6 months, he'd survive a recall and all would be forgiven.

That's probably true, given that Adams is that most precious of leftist jewels; a homosexual democrat mayor.

While I was in error about the yawner effect, I was dead on in my prediction that Adams would not resign, since he lacks any morals, integrity or responsibility to the people he lied to so vilely during the election, and his opponent, whom he trashed like a rented mule.

Adams is despicable in every sense and meaning of that word. He shouldn't be a 5th grade class president, let alone mayor of Portland. But then, since Portland has morphed into the Soviet Socialist Republic, there can be no doubt they have the government they want and deserve.

As always, had Adams been a Republican; his party affiliation would be mentioned every 30 seconds and the howls for his scalp would be massive and unrelenting.

City Commissioner Randy Leonard told The Associated Press he had a phone message from Adams on Sunday morning, saying he had decided to remain in office.

BENJAMIN BRINK / APMayor Sam Adams has publicly apologized for lying about his sexual relationship with Beau Breedlove in 2005.

Two other commissioners told The Oregonian newspaper that Adams told them the same thing. The fourth, Amanda Fritz, declined to comment.

Efforts to reach Adams were unsuccessful.

Last week, Adams publicly apologized for lying about his sexual relationship with an 18-year-old man in 2005 as he began his campaign for mayor in 2007.The young man, Beau Breedlove, has said he did not have sex with the mayor until he was 18, though they met when Breedlove was 17.

Breedlove, now 21, told The Oregonian on Saturday he had kissed Adams twice when he was 17 and welcomed the romantic interest, offering details that contradicted Adams' claim that he told Breedlove he was not interested in a relationship at the time.

But Breedlove repeated his denial there was any sex before he was 18, and said the relationship was consensual and he considered himself an adult even before he turned 18.

.So, this guy goes nuts and slaughters a bunch of people at a Belgian day care center, killing two babies and a care-giver, as well as wounding 12 others, including 10 other children.

This a tragedy. How can mere words adequately describe the pain this human filth has inflicted on these people, their families, their nation?

However, this isn't a post about the very real agony all concerned have undergone and will undergo. This is a post about the media reaction.

Belgian gun laws are reactionary, in that a brief google search seems to result in reports of a sweeping change in gun laws implemented as a result of a multiple murder a few weeks before. They, apparently, have nothing approximating a "Constitutional right" to carry.

Is this where I pointed out that these new, more restrictive and confiscatory laws really did nothing to protect these children?

The silence about the mode of these deaths is deafening. But we all already know that had this guy shot these kids, the howls would be deafening.

I have no idea what type of knife or knives this waste of skin used. But if one rabidly favors the restriction of firearms because of their danger to the public, their use in crimes, and the injuries they cause... then how can these same people remain silent in the face of this horrific act?

How many hundreds of thousands of people around the world are "wounded" by knives, every day? Blood is spilled in kitchens and dining facilities EVERY DAY. Some people are stabbed to death... EVERY DAY. England, for example, one of the most restrictive gun ownership societies, indicates that in 2007, something on the order of 14,000 people were victims of knife attacks in Great Britain.

And the silence by the rabid gun restricters on the knife issue is deafening.

Some might call it "hypocrisy."

(NOTE: This post is filed under the heading of "sarcasm." It is an absurdity to support yet another example of the double standard that many hold near and dear to their hearts for purely political reasons.

As a CWP holder for the past 11 years, I am well aware of the dangers of owning a firearm. I bought my weapons (2, actually) as a result of death threats resulting from my then bosses political activities.

That said, there is something to the phrase, "Guns don't kill, people kill," and this is yet another example of that. Enforcement of common sense laws is the key to success, not the politically correct restriction of our rights.)

By RAF CASERT Associated Press WriterThe suspect who went on a deadly stabbing spree at a Belgian day care center is also thought to have killed an elderly woman 10 days ago and had plans on him to attack two more nurseries, a prosecutor said Monday.

Christian Du Four said police now believe the man they are holding for Friday's day care massacre in Dendermonde may also have stabbed to death a 73-year-old woman who lived nearby on Jan. 16.

"There are very clear indications of links between the murders in Dendermonde and the death of the elderly woman," said Du Four.

Investigators had been unable to find a motive for woman's slaying.

Last Friday, a knife-wielding man killed two babies and a caregiver at the Fairyland day care center in Dendermonde, a town 30 kilometers (18 miles) west of Brussels. He also seriously wounded 12 others, including 10 young children, in a rampage so bloody it left rescue workers shaken

Unfortunately according to Willamette Week's blog Mayor Sam Adams will be trying to weather the storm and hold his position. Here's what's great about it though. According to WWeek that's reporting City Commissioner Randy Leonard, Sam Adams says he deserving of "Due Process" before he leaves the seat.

Even after the Oregonian reports that according to the kid, him and Sam Adams made out in the a City Hall bathroom (shortly before retreating to a bar across the street) when he was 17 years old. Well I think we all hope that Sam is treated to Due Process and if a crime was committed (regardless of the statute of limitations) the people of Portland might actually stand up to corruption.

.I'm a cynic. Of course, anyone reading this blog for more than 30 seconds has already divined that factoid, but I admit it. Cynicism in this day and age of our MSM acting as if they all answer to the President's Press Secretary should, to a greater or lesser degree, become a component in us all.

I do not agree with Mr. Obama's bailout plan. I've been staunchly opposed to the scam known as TARP. The handling of the latter, wherein billions of our dollars were redistributed to banks; many of which have not, well, exactly chosen to use them as they were intended, has negatively impacted the former... and WHAT a surprise THAT has been, eh?

Our democrat-controlled government wants us generally, and Congress specifically, to support this massive, horrific waste of money. OK, fine: here's how it can be done.

1. Obama and the democrat leadership come out and explain, IN DETAIL, what the plan is... AND WHAT IT WILL ACCOMPLISH. By that end, I mean, where we'll be be in 6 months, 12 months, 18 months and so forth. That way, we will ALL get the chance to see if the plan is worthwhile, plus we'll have the advantage of being able to see in the future for purposes of financial stability.

"Where we'll be" to my mind means where interest rates will be, oil, home starts, employment, the stock market, 401k's, all retirement plans and the like, GDP and GDP growth and so forth will be if we do this plan, and what will happen if we don't using the same criteria. Obama's all ABOUT "transparency," right? (well, maybe he isn't, but STILL)

After all, our government HAS to know what the impacts will be... right? Otherwise, they're doing this just to do it, and THAT can't be true... can it?

2. When this passes... and if Obama and the democrat leadership (Obama, Biden, Clinton, Reid, Murtha, Pelosi, Emanuel, etal) are wrong, then they all resign from office.

That is, if they make these promises, and if, at 6 months, 12 months, 18 months and so forth, they have failed to deliver... then they resign. Immediately.

What's not to love? Right now, these clowns have zero buy-in. They want all of US to assume ALL of the risk, while they share all of the glory if it works.

You want me to sign off on this?

Then put your asses on the line for it, just like you're putting OUR asses on the line for it.

Otherwise, they risk NOTHING, and WE risk EVERYTHING. As it is, they're risking our country. The least THEY can do is risk their jobs, like they're risking ours.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

.I'm sure it hasn't been so long that we've forgotten David Carrier, the sacrifice de jour to Senator Don Benton in the last election (although, based on Carrier's slavish partisanship and political ignorance, perhaps we should forget him.)

Self-delusion is part and parcel of the commitment to be a leftist generally, and a democrat particularly. In a rather fascinating tome printed in today's Pravda Columbian, Mr. Carrier confirms his cluelessness with this sorry effort.

Obama’s appointments impressive

I attended several Senate confirmation hearings last week and was impressed that President Barack Obama’s Cabinet appointees are highly qualified, and are not corporate big shots, campaign donors, or political cronies.

They simply wish to serve their country.

Steven Chu, secretary of energy, won a Nobel Prize in physics. Lisa Jackson (for EPA administrator) acknowledged that global warming is our most serious environmental challenge. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar’s family has been ranching in Colorado longer than it has been a state. Attorney General-appointee Eric Holder stated without equivocation that waterboarding is torture. SEC head Mary Shapiro wants the banking industry to pay for its own mistakes. All three appointees to the Council of Economic Advisers are Ph.D. economists who have written extensively on labor and trade issues.

This is the dawn of a new era for our country, and I was proud to be one of the 2 million who witnessed its rebirth first-hand.

David CarrierVANCOUVER

It's difficult to tell if Mr. Carrier's moronic take on these cabinet appointments is something he sadly, and incorrectly, truly believes; or if he's just a flat out liar. Clearly, if this crop of cabinet officials "impresses" Mr. Carrier, he needs to stay out of the political business.

No, I'm not suggesting he didn't actually GO to DC. I have no idea if he did or did not, and really, I could care less. But his judgments (using the term in it's loosest possible sense) on this matter reflect his idiotic political positions during his abortive effort to get someone to elect him to the senate.

Many of Mr. Obama's choices for cabinet positions ARE, in fact, the very thing Mr. Carrier, for whatever the bizarre reason, would lead you into thinking they are not.

Hillary Clinton... NOT a "political crony?"

(BTW, Mr. Carrier, I understand that campaign donors are limited to US Senate seats if they're democrats.)

Bill Richardson... NOT a "political crony?" Tax cheat and illegal alien employer Tim Geithner... NOT a "political crony?" Eric Holder, best known for getting fugitive financier Mark Rich and a group of Puerto Rican terrorists pardons from Bill Clinton, NOT a "political crony?" Arne Duncan, whose disastrous tenure as Chicago Schools Superintendent includes a $67,000 espresso bill and a system with utterly abysmally academic outcomes, NOT a "political crony?" Former Raytheon lobbyist (You DO remember Obama's pledge not to hire lobbyists in his Administration, don't you, Mr. Carrier?) William Lynn for Deputy Defense Secretary... NOT a "political crony?"

Look... I get partisanship as much as the next guy. But pathological self-delusion?

This is nothing close to the "dawn of a new era." In fact, it's beginning to shape up as a return to the days of Tammany Hall and the Teapot Dome Scandal.

Hiring crooks... giving them a pass when Republicans similarly situated would be crucified by you and others like you every hour on the hour is more like the "dawn of the know-nothings."

It is efforts like this, Mr. Carrier, that serve to confirm that the people of the 17th District acted wisely indeed in passing you over to return Sen. Benton to office..

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Words of Wisdom

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

Dr. Martin Luther King

"Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom."

Alexis de Tocqueville

"A return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man. His good example has such an influence that the good men strive to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life so contrary to his example."Niccolo Machiavelli

“Cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'Is it politic?' But conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?' And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but because conscience tells one it is right.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Washington State Constitution, Declaration of Rights

"All political power is inherent in the people, and governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and are established to protect and maintain individual rights." - Article 1, Section 1

"The right of petition and of the people peaceably to assemble for the common good shall never be abridged." - Article 1, Section 4

"The first power reserved by the people is the initiative." - Article 2, Section 1(a)